Joy Comes From Within

Tis the season for joy and celebration. However, look around and you’ll also find sadness, worry, and depression.

Anxiety and depression should not be taken lightly. Extreme conditions should be diagnosed and treated by medical professionals.

However, I do believe that feelings are an indicator of our emotional wellness and can be a signal that something needs our attention.

In his new book Rainbows, the coolest book about beating depression, my friend Buddy Valentine provides “mood-lifting/ mood-shifting ideas to help you better enjoy life.” Buddy explains that “…the more you can identify self-care activities that protect and improve your mood/ the better equipped you will be when miserable ghosts again knock on your door.”

In my new book Come Back Strong, I devoted an entire chapter to thoughts, words, and feelings with specific tips and activities to change your thoughts, language, and emotions.

What do these two new books have in common? Both authors know that joy is an inside job.

Here are a few excerpts from Come Back Strong:

When I exhausted all the external resources of traditional and nontraditional routes to wellness along with lifestyle changes, I had nowhere to go but within. I am the only person in charge of my peace, joy, and bliss. And joy comes from within.

Why do I speak about joy? Because during my journey, there was darkness, sadness, and depression. As little girls, we read fairy tales about the prince riding in on a white horse to save us and living happily ever after. But the best satisfaction comes from you rescuing yourself. There is no need to give this power away. You are in charge of your joy. Don’t give the responsibility to your child, parent, spouse, doctor, coworkers, boss, or anyone else.

In my experience with surgical menopause, I learned that I could control my feelings by changing my thoughts and words. This was a new concept to me. I had always been an emotional person, and I thought my emotions were strictly a result of my hormones and my external circumstances. When surgical menopause hit, my emotions became even more intense, especially those feelings of despair and sadness.

Before my surgery, when I was sad or emotional, Jim would ask, “What are you thinking right now in this moment?” He knew that my current feelings were a direct reflection of my current and past thoughts. His question brought me into the present moment, the only time when changes take place. I didn’t get it right away. In fact, I rejected this theory for many years. It was easier to feel sorry for myself than it was to take responsibility. However, as I became more mindful of my thoughts and worked at keeping them more positive, my moods and emotions came into balance.

Express Joy

I love listening to Ryan Seacrest on the radio when he encourages listeners, “Tell me something good.” It reinforces the idea that joy should be shared and celebrated together.

The secret to abundant joy is in the expression of it. As a child, I had no problem living in my curiosity and expressing my sheer delight at what I found. I also had no problem expressing my discontent without a filter.

At some point, I learned that anger and negative emotions were not acceptable in all circles, so I begin to stuff these feelings. The problem was, the more I stuffed the negative, the bigger the habit of suppression I formed. Soon I was stuffing joy as well as pain.

YOUR TURN

The quickest way to incorporate something new is to link it to an ACTION. So, before you leave this page, comment below and TELL ME SOMETHING GOOD! Express and share your joy with me and the world!

This is great! I AM expressing Joy today! With my daughter’s help, I have accomplished many, many things this past week that were very emotionally hard for me to process. Thank You for this perfectly timed post!